Soul Eater Summers
by forefes
Summary: World War II is looming into effect and Audrey Summer's weapon partner has gone missing. Determined to get him back. She will be tossed into an adventure that with new friends and put her against the maddest entity since Asura.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Death City

Audrey Summers had just gotten out of her final class of the day at the Death Weapon Meister Academy.

Since the start of the day, she had been pondering if she should go through with confronting Lord Death this evening about her request to become a solo meister.

Ever since her partner Ritt left the academy, she had been denied any further missions until she had found a replacement partner.

This was the third month since she became separated from Ritt and time was running out until she was forced into either replacing him, or being removed from the school.

Instead of searching for a new partner for the past months, she had been focusing her efforts on improving her abilities as a meister.

She had been practicing with the schools best three star meister, Miss Julie to improve Audrey's offensive and defensive abilities as a meister.

Miss Julie is an expert meister that has full performance in all categories of wavelength communication, energy generation, perception, and energy injection.

Her job at the academy was to help meisters discover their unique potentials and shape them into promising students.

When Audrey first started training to be a meister when she was younger, she had discovered through Miss Julie that she was an exceptional meister at communicating energy from herself into others to boost their performance or to heal them.

She also had amazing vision with her soul perception that allowed her to detect other beings from a greater distance than most other meisters.

It was with those qualities that Audrey was paired up with her partner Ritt, who could transform into a magic shield.

When they were first paired as partners, Ritt had no offensive abilities as a weapon so Audrey and him were assigned as a support team for other meisters and their weapons.

After a while she was able to work with him to build up his weapon strength so they could eventually attack as well as defend against attacks, thus allowing them to do their own missions.

Since the day her partner left however, it became her goal to become a solo meister so she could set out and find him.

She had trained relentlessly every day, even at the expense of her health to improve her offensive and defensive parts of her soul wavelength.

It was required that a solo meister possesses incredible offensive and defensive wavelength skills in order to survive on their missions.

Unfortunately, despite her incredible hard work over the past three months, she found herself just barely able to begin generating enough soul energy to begin inflicting damage on her targets.

It was just until a week ago that Miss Julie had pulled her aside during practice and said to her that she was wearing herself down and that any further training to this extent would cause severe damage to her.

From that moment forward, the professor prohibited her from using the training hall till further notice.

Audrey was devastated at the news. After convincing herself over ad over that she could pull off being a solo mietser, she was now at a dead end.

She knew after a little while longer, she would be booted from the academy unless she found another partner. She felt so trapped and out of options, so she decided to finally confront the grim reaper on the matter.

She decided to wait around in a study room to rehearse what to say to him for another hour or two.

By the time she was feeling confident enough, all the classes had ended and most of the students had left the school.

She walked quietly down the halls all the way to the entrance to Death's chamber. She then took a deep breath as she stood there. She had never been in Death's office before and was not sure what the office of the grim reaper would look like.

She was about to raise her fist to knock when she suddenly heard two people inside the room. She recognized Lord Death's silly high pitched voice but the other seemed to be a bit distorted and static.

Was it a radio? She wondered.

She cracked open the door to the office slightly to see if she could make out more of the conversation. When that failed, she pulled the door open enough to gently slip in silently.

From the door she could see into the large open room. She saw a straight path with several large Guillotines serving as archways with a path crossing under them.

She was very confused by the setup but reminded herself that it was indeed the chamber of the grim reaper.

The walls and ceiling were blended together with a gloomy clouded sky with most of the ground being covered in dirt and sand except for a wide and white circular elevated platform that was centered to the middle of the room.

She began moving forward into the room and gently closed the door behind her.

She decided for her own well being to walk along the outside of the Guillotine path as she advanced closer to the conversation between Death and the mystery figure.

She then realized her boots were making a squeaking noise that would give away her presence, so she darted behind one of the Guillotine pillars and slowly removed her boots.

After she got the second boot off she placed both boots in one hand and proceeded further into the room.

There were bookshelves encircling the outside edges of the white platform storing thousands of books with some scattering the ground. It looks as if Death has been so busy with everything going on, that he could not take the time to clean his office.

As soon as Death came into view, she darted behind another pillar. He was speaking into what seemed to be his magic mirror.

She was familiar with the magic device through having to used it to communicate with Lord Death on several occasions.

She still could not identify the other person at her distance so she advanced to the next pillar and continued on until she was behind the final pillar before the circular platform.

From there she could make out the conversation as well as see who it was in the mirror.

He was wearing a war uniform that she did not recognize as anything related to Death's forces. His facial expression was stern and she noticed dirt on his face.

"Lord Death, I understand your stance on the war" Said the soldier. "But you must realize that once Germany takes Europe, all the free nations of the world will inevitably follow suite in being taken."

Audrey noticed he was speaking with a heavy accent that she could not identify. She also noticed after looking more closely that he was wearing some fur on his head as well as around parts of his uniform.

The soldier continued "There will not be any sanctuary for those who oppose Hitler's ideology and that of the Nazi regime. You know as much as I do that those deserters of your academy who have gone over to their side will inevitably return to conquer you as well as all of America."

Audrey's heart skipped a beat. Ritt was one of the students that had deserted the academy. Him and a bunch of students fled the academy when tensions over the war were intensifying.

Since then, several other students and teachers have deserted the DWMA also.

Some had dropped out due to family matters while some became enraged over the war and wanted to fight for one side or the other.

"That's why you must send aid to the frontlines in Europe as well as our fighters in the Soviet Union. That's where Germany's meisters and weapons are concentrating most in trying to quell our forces." The soldier finished.

Death then spoke up "I understand your concern for your home country and of the fear of the current twisted political status of Germany, but you must understand that wars like this happen, and that during wartime our main focus should be the kishins that are lurking everywhere because of it."

Death turned his mask slightly over to the row of guillotines causing Audrey to pull her head back behind the piller and tuck in.

 _He didn't see me, did he?_ She worried.

As I speak, dozens of new kishin eggs are coming into existence every day and the ones already in existence are getting stronger." Death continued, returning his masked face to the soldier.

Death was motionless in his form and his expressionless mask did not help Audrey to determine his mood. She did notice though that the clouds were rotating violently around the room, perhaps reflecting his mood.

Death resumed speaking, but this time in a tone she was unprepared for.

"So while you are wasting your time on the borderline over fighting against fellow meisters and humans, the true threat of the kishin eggs goes uninterrupted. That is why instead of sending more of my teachers and students away from kishin hunting to aid you, I must ask that you stand down from your renegading behavior and return with whatever students you took from me."

It was beyond obvious that Audrey had come in at a bad time. She had never heard that voice from Lord Death before.

It was deep and dreaded and nothing like his normal happy tone. His mask eye's had also changed in that the top of them became flat and the eyes turned inward in an intimidating way.

She turned to face the way back to the door and debated about leaving but then the soldier responded back to him.

"I'm sorry Lord Death, but there is more going on here that your Kishin hunts. Whole countries are in risk of being completely whipped out and an entire race of people. These students didn't come against their will. They all willingly volunteered to fight a threat that you are clearly to distracted to see. As the war wages on you will only lose more good teachers and students as more of their families and relatives are taking away. These Germans are bloodthirsty savages and will only grow stronger as the war progresses".

Death then boomed back "how dare you! German's are not the problem here. Only you renegade meisters and weapons as well as those soul harvesting Dark meisters and weapons are the reason the world is in its current chaos! Even if you win against the armies of the axis, after a while, the un-addressed Kishins will have become too strong for any of use to handle! They will swarm across the nations and cover everything in madness, even all that you fought so hard to defend against mere mortal beings!"

Audrey had already retreated several pillars back closer to the door when the soldier responded.

"I am wasting my time here. Enjoy the freedom that Death City brings while it lasts." Then the mirror terminated the communication.

Audrey was a few feet from the door when she heard Lord Death let out a loud sigh and then silence. She looked back to get one last glimpse of him and the room, but he was gone.

She blinked and looked again. _Did he teleport away or something?_ She wondered to herself.

Then the shivering began to hit her and she slowly began turning her head to look over her right shoulder with her small pony tail shot straight up and her eyes widened in fear.

Then she heard him in the same dark voice whispering from two inches behind her ear "What are you doing sneaking around in my office?!"

Audrey screamed. "I'm so sorry Lord Death, I didn't mean to eavesdrop! I just get curious and this time I went overboard, I'm sorry, please don't reaper chop me-"

"That's a new height record for you isn't it Ms. Summers?" Death said with a chuckle, reverting back to his friendly voice.

Audrey took a moment to register what had happened and then looked down and realized she was seven feet up one of the pillars hugging for her life.

"Oh, Uhhh yeah." She said with embarrassment. She slid down and straightened out her clothes.

After a moment she turned to face him to address him properly "Lord Death, I'm really sorry for intruding like this. It was very unprofessional of me and I hope that you will excuse my behavior. I won't do it again."

She felt rotten and realized now that it would be harder to convince death that she was ready for a mission.

Death tilted his head. "well no harm was done now was it? You just have to be aware that I do have private calls just like everyone else on this earth and so forth should be treated with equal respect. I bet you would not like it if someone barged in on you if you were having a serious conversation."

Audrey nodded "I agree and apologies again. I also apologies on behalf of that soldier. I fully agree with you about the kishin threat and that they must be dealt with before they become too powerful."

Death nodded at her "I'm please to see that you recognize the situation. I do certainly wish more people would. The world has been darkening, even awhile before the war started. The kishin eggs had been growing and now they are nearly reaching their peaks. It is greatly disturbing." Death's masked face tilted down slightly to signify his distaste.

Audrey saw an opportunity for her to put forward her request. "This leads me to why I am here Lord Death. If you had a moment, I wanted to discuss something with you."

Death tilted his face back up to her "Sure thing. Let's have a seat shall we." Audrey nodded and re-equipped her boots.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Death City

Lord Death and Audrey had settled over a the table within the large room to begin discussion. "So Ms. Summers, how's it going? Classes have been going well?"

Audrey nodded with a smile. "I've been doing very well! I am acing all my studies and have also been attending after class activities to improve my standing within the academy."

She wanted to hide any nervousness that she had in front of Lord Death. Any sign of weakness could jeopardies her chances for a mission.

"Excellent Ms. Summers" Death responded. "And how about finding a new partner? Have you hooked someone yet?"

He then began poking his elbow towards her in a friendly manner, trying to embarrass her.

Audrey froze for a moment. She should have known Death would go straight to that subject. She had to remain calm.

"Well…actually…I was thinking. Awhile back I mentioned to you that I was training with Ms. Julie to improve my abilities." She said.

"Ah yes, and how have you been faring?" Death said and he nodded for Audrey to continue.

"Well…Since three months ago, I have been continuing to train with her and have been improving my abilities considerably. So I was seeing if I could be allowed to begin taking on missions as a solo meister".

Audrey had to break eye contact with Death as she finished talking. She felt that perhaps if she lied about her lack of progress that maybe she would have a chance.

She looked for a reaction from Death but he simply sat there for a moment and then spoke.

"hmmm, is that so? As you may know , assignments for solo meisters are reserved for the most experienced of meisters. Solo meisters must possess great endurance and a high capacity of energy to work with. Although you have claimed to have improved, I'm afraid you are still much too young for such missions. You would be much more effective if you began working with a partner again instead."

Audrey's heart sank. _She knew it!_ She should have expected this from the start. She was going to have to be persuasive.

"What about the kishin threat?" she said in defense.

"You said yourself that they are growing without much interference. You said that you needed all the meisters and weapons available to assist you. I know I haven't found a replacement partner yet, and I'm not sure if I want to, but I want another mission." Audrey felt herself growing desperate.

"I've been practicing my soul attack techniques relentlessly since Ritt left and now and have accelerated in learning how to control my abilities. Even Miss Julie believes that I could stand on my own in a solo assignment" Another lie.

Her calmness was beginning to break. She lowered her head and shut her eyes tightly as she pushed the question again.

"So I finally came to ask you again with the sincerity of my heart, please allow me to help you on the front lines with hunting the kishin eggs. I could even just be apprenticed under one of your current soldier meisters if that would be better."

She kept her eyes shut, not wanting to have to look at Death's hintless expression.

After a moment passed, he rose from his seat and turned his body from her sideways but continued to face her.

His mask then shifted into a nasty expression that caused her to freeze still in her seat as he looked at her.

"Unfortunately your soul is telling me a different tale than what you speak" He said with irritation in his voice.

Audrey gulped as he continued.

"You cannot hide anything from me Miss Summers. I can see just from a glimpse of your soul that you are worn out and depleted from these past months. Yet you have hardly anything to show for it. Every meister has unique categories that their wavelengths fit into. No matter how hard you trained, you have been investing time into a category of your wavelength that you were never meant to achieve." Death stated, still wearing his expression of distaste that slowly began fade as well as the anger in his voice as he continued.

"I understand your eagerness Ms. Summers, but you must understand. You know your situation. You are still very young Audrey. You still need much more maturing as well as additional experience before you can ever truly engage the combatants such as those on the brink of becoming kishin." Death turned his head away from her as he finished.

Audrey slumped her head down to face the table top as the feelings hit her. She could not believe she had lowered to the point where she even attempted to deceive Lord Death.

"From the moment you stepped into the room, even as I was distracted with the soldier, I felt your presence as well as your true purpose for coming here." Death said.

Audrey's eyes were wide open in awe. Had she forgotten that she was in the presence of the great grim reaper. The all knowing shinigami whose millenias of experience rendered him an expert at reading souls inside and out.

There was nothing she could hide from him, no matter how hard she tried.

"The very concept of any solo meister or weapon has always been an absurd one in my experience. The very power any solo weapon or meister can posses would only be doubled or tripled even with a partner. Even the most powerful solo students could only be more effective had they of had partners." Death continued as his mask's expression was now fully reverted to a neutral expression.

"Understand Audrey, the kishin eggs my main forces are hunting nowadays are a lot tougher due to the war. As a result of being understaffed, I have been unable to stretch my elite units far enough to defeat them all. Because of that, the ones that get away are now much stronger the second time around and it requires the skill of a very experienced meister with their weapon to fully counter the threat."

Audrey's eyes remained open, but she kept her head lowered, feeling the hopelessness of her situation.

She failed to get stronger for Ritt. She failed to fulfill her unsaid promise to bring him back.

"I admit I have not been looking hard for a weapon Lord Death, because even if I did find a weapon to replace Ritt, it would take several months for us to finally resonate accurately and possibly another two years for me to turn them into a death weapon. I don't have that kind of time to waste. The enemy is growing and I need to do something!"

She started flaring in the face in frustration as she continued, raising her head to meet his gaze.

"I'll be just held back in the academy because of the setbacks from retraining, and you never know, Ritt might come back. It's not like he has been gone long or maybe he is in trouble and needs my help."

She felt herself falling apart. Any restraints she had on herself earlier were now forfeit.

"Ah, so you want to go out looking for your partner, could that be what this is really about? " Lord Death said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Audrey blushed not wanting to admit it to him. Three months back she was in pieces when Ritt left with a bunch of other students when the war broke out. He was all she could think about for the several following weeks.

Ritt was a very good friend to her. He was soft spoken, kind, and apologetic. When they first started doing missions together he would all ways be the one apologizing to me when we messed up as a team or when it was her fault.

He was also a little overprotective of her, not letting her walk alone at night and all ways escorting her in the empty hallway at school despite Audrey being fully capable of defending herself.

She knew he did it just out of care, but one time she even found him sleeping in his shield form outside her apartment door, afraid that she might get robbed or kidnapped.

After reassuring him over and over about the overall safety of the school, he learned to respect and honor her boundaries.

After a while, she and Ritt were knocking out missions left and right.

Between missions, Ritt learned how to become more offensive as they both helped other meisters out on their missions.

They were eventually able to build their skills up to do missions with just themselves.

Although they were not the most offensive team due to Audrey being a healing meister and Ritt being a shield weapon, they were able to use tactics to defeat many of their adversaries.

It was awhile before they were able to perfectly resonate because Ritt was very cautious about exposing his wavelength to her and hers to his.

It was not until their first witch that they finally resonated perfectly.

The witch wielded unique magic that caught them by surprise.

Luckily Ritt was able to absorb attack after attack for Audrey as they finally broke through each other's emotional barriers allowing a resonance, killing the witch.

After that day he became a Death weapon and I was granted a two star meister rank. It was a joyful time.

It was not to last however. Soon after, a second great war started in Europe.

Since Germany was the main aggressor again in the new war, ridiculous rumors began spreading throughout the DWMA that all Germans were hostile by nature.

Soon students that had German ancestry were targeted and bullied by other students and many school clubs began excluding German students from their activities.

Audrey remembered those months back when she was walking down the school hall and would find students being bullied emotionally and physically.

Ritt was half German so he also saw harassment from other students. He would get bullied to the point where she would have him crying in her arms every week.

As a result, she tried every day to stand up for him and the other students but began getting bullied herself.

She was pushed, punched, called several nasty terms and was threatened often as a result of trying to defend Ritt and the others.

Ritt noticed her actions and begged her to stop, but she knew that Ritt was too soft a person to stand up for himself, so she kept trying.

Even though Lord Death openly condemned the discrimination that was happening, it still flourished as most of the teachers turned a blind eye to what was happening in the school hallways.

As the months progressed, things changed for the worst. Ritt began changing as bruises began appearing on him.

He began closing off his soul wavelength from her's preventing her from reading him.

He then became less social towards her, causing her to step up her protection over him. She would find herself screaming at the bullies in the halls every day, trying to get them off Ritt.

When they turned to her however, Ritt would jump in the way to absorb the blows intended for her like the shield he was programmed to be, her shield.

Audrey found herself crying herself to sleep several nights straight over what was happening to him. She hated this academy for what it was doing to him.

Ritt was such a gentle person that he could never deserve what was happening to him.

Then one day, he vanished.

Ritt and a group of other bullied students all left the academy without a trace except for a single letter that was left behind.

Audrey became hysterical that day after reading the note he left for her.

He left because he did not want her to get hurt anymore on his behalf. He believed that if he left the academy she would not need to risk getting bullied for him anymore.

He wanted her to find a new weapon partner for her own sake and continue on with her education and training to become a three star meister.

His last words were thanks to her for being such a good friend and for bringing him up in confidence through their time as partners.

She remembers crumbling up that letter and calling him an idiot. She could not believe that after all that she did for him, that he would dump her like this.

All the time they invested into each other to become so great and now he would just leave her in shambles.

She hated the academy just as much. She could never forgive this place for what happened to Ritt and those other students.

Overtime, she was able to appear more in control of her emotions, but she never gave up her sorrow over her partner's departure, nor her hatred for the academy.

Her plan from then on was to become the strongest meister in the academy so she could get the hell out of here and find Ritt.

That goal was far from achievable at this point. She was now at rock bottom with nothing to show for her struggles.

She now had to face the facts that she might never be able to see Ritt again. Death said it himself that direct combat was not her strong suite, so she could never be a solo meister.

Audrey awaited her fate as Death continued speaking.

"As you might be aware, I launched an investigation regarding the whereabouts of the missing students who left that day months ago. I receive weekly updates from my scouts about any activity they find regarding those students and so far there has been no trace of the particular students who left around that time. Keep in mind that you are not the only meister who has lost their partner. Many other students are without their partners as a result of that unfortunate event. They rely on me to inform them as soon as I find anything".

Audrey nodded at the news as she tried once more to reason with the Lord Death.

"Oh I see, but could I perhaps assist them with the search then? Nothing is better than a meister with decent soul perception for finding a bunch of lost ones. Besides, I know Ritt's soul better than anyone. If anyone is to find him, it would be me. So please Lord Death, let me at least begin searching locally for him. I can start by looking around Death City, and then I can maybe look through the flight files of the nearest airport to see if they used that-"

"you're very serious on this matter eh?" Death interrupted.

Death turned away from her, thinking. After a few seconds he began to chuckle.

Audrey looked at him, almost irritated at his amusement towards her predicament. "Tell me Miss Summers" he said. "Have you ever heard of the Eisenberg brothers?"ave been going well?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Death City

Audrey directed her attention to the question. Maybe if they talked about something else for a while, the conversation will go better.

"I-I don't think I have heard of them, are they recent?" she asked.

Death turned back to face her and settled back into his seat with a sign.

"So you never heard of them huh…? Well now you have. They are far from recent however." Lord Death began explaining.

"Emil and Alios Eisenberg were once students at this academy. They were both orphans that were found in Germany by a meister team around three decades ago. They were brought here and were given a room to stay in while me and a few of my staff discussed how to handle them. They were demon weapons with power that was nothing like any of us had seen, so everyone was looking to me to decide what to do with them and if such beings should even be allowed to exist in this world."

Audrey leaned forward and used her arm to support her head.

"Why were they so dangerous? I mean what kind of weapons were they?" she asked eagerly.

Death responded with one word "tanks".

Audrey's head slipped out of her hand and her face slapped against the table top.

"W-What?!" Audrey gasped as she recovered and Lord Death chuckled.

She was only recently familiarized with those types of weapons.

Those large vehicles that used thick metal armor for protection while it used a large cannon to retaliate with large projectiles.

Audrey then pictured them. Just two normal boys, but then in their monstrous tank forms.

"But, how was that possible? I understand that whenever a new demon weapon is created, a witch's soul is combined with a human to convert the human into a weapon. However, using a witches soul to bind a human being to a tank would be impossible wouldn't it? Even then, how could the normal human body withstand that kind of form" She asked and asked as her face turned blue.

Death raised both of his hands in a pushing gesture to get her to calm down as he responded.

"Indeed, it would require if not an immensely powerful witch's soul, then maybe even a group of witch souls to pull off such a ritual. The witch console would never organize such a thing of course so they are out of suspicion. Even if enough magic was generated for creating them into tanks, we would have been able to detect such a large concentration of magic and prevent it. There they were though, the Eisenberg brothers with their tank forms."

Death gave a shrugged gesture then continued with his story.

"So after much discussion with my staff at the time, I ended up taking the risky choice of permitted them as full time students. They were too dangerous to be left roaming around the world with their immense power and I didn't believe killing them would be fair either, so I believed it would be best to keep them here and have them educated to use their powers responsibly."

Audrey listened in amazement.

"Wow, I cant believe such beings existed, and that they were students!" She said excitingly.

"Indeed they were amazing." Lord Death said as allowed himself to sink down in the chair.

So, where are they now?" Audrey asked.

Death sat silently for a few seconds as he mask lowered down as to stare at the table top.

"they are… no longer alive unfortunately." Death finally said.

Audrey stared at him for a moment before responding.

"Oh… Im sorry. May I ask how?" she asked.

Death's mask rose back up to meet her glance. He nodded as he continued calmly.

"When the first great war broke out, both of the brothers dropped out of the academy and began doing mercenary work. They went from Cities to warfronts, killing and murdering soldiers and civilians alike as they transformed into dangerous dark weapons."

"They even started killing any meisters and weapons that got in their way as they consumed more and more souls to the point where I had to assemble a special strike force to deal with then specifically."

Audrey sat silently as she felt sadness swarming over her as Lord Death continued.

"Your mother, Candice Summers and your father, Craig Summers were part of a five meisters squad that I sent out to eliminate the brothers."

Audrey stood up from her seat with both hands pressed on the table.

"Wait! My parents had to fight those guys?!" she said loudly.

Death nodded as he gestured for her to sit back down.

"Yes indeed. In fact, out of the five meisters that were sent out with their weapons, only your mother and father made it back alive along with one other weapon whose meister was killed."

Audrey's eyes widened more in disbelief.

"Oh shit! I can't believe I never heard about this! My parents never told me about something like this! Im shocked that the academy's professors have never spoken of it either." She said with concern.

Audrey became on the edge of her seat as Death explained as if expecting her reaction.

"Well I would expect for no one your age to know of this. Since the incident, any mentioning of the Eisenberg brothers within the DWMA has been forbidden as a request from your mother." Death finished.

Audrey suddenly became suspicious. _Out of the request of her mother?_ "What do you mean?" she asked.

Death then shifted as if uncomfortable.

She then began glaring at him sharply with her green eyes until he finally answered.

"You see, It was a tragic time for her as well as the academy. After the battle with the Eisenbergs, your father had to stay in the nursery bed for several days as your mother stayed at his side. The day your father was released, both him and your mother withdrew from the academy."

Audrey shot up again from her seat.

"They withdrew? Do you know why? You mean she never finished school here?!" She shouted.

Death turned his head as if staring out into the room as he sighed again.

"No, she never graduated. However, I don't blame them for leaving after something like that. There was more between your parents and the Eisenberg brothers than you have probably been allowed to know." Death said with a hint of sadness.

"huh?" Audrey said as Death acknowledged her confusion.

"Out of your mother's request, I decided to exclude any mentioning of the Eisenberg brothers to you or to anyone. With what has happened lately however, it is time that I told you the whole story since you find yourself in such a similar scenario that your mother had." Audrey suddenly felt uneasy, like she was not going to enjoy what she was about to hear.

"Emil Eisenberg was your mother's first weapon partner, before your father." Death said with a pause, allowing it to sink in.

Audrey froze "whaaaa?" Audrey said as she replayed his last sentence in her head over and over.

"But my mother has had only one weapon her whole life, Craig Summers, my dad!" she tried to correct as she trembled slightly.

Death sighed again.

"Your mother has kept you in the dark about this possibly due to her embarrassment. You see, she made Emil into the death weapon that he was before he went rampaging. For that, she felt directly responsible for his power and for that disassociated herself with him and the academy. At least that's what I have suspected to be the reason." He finished

Audrey could not believe it.

Her mother had not only had a weapon partner before her dad, but was able to turn that partner into a death weapon. Not just any death weapon either, but a death weapon unlike anything this academy had seen.

She did not know where to even begin but definitely wanted to venture further into the subject.

"Could you tell me why their partnership ended?" she asked.

Death was silent for a few seconds then began with a quieter voice.

"Alios…Alios Eisenberg was… I'm sure behind why Emil left. Alios was never trusting of our academy like Emil was. Even though he was older and showed more potential in his abilities then his younger brother, he refused to ever acquire a partner."

"He preferred solo assignments and showed good progress with his missions, so we never pressured him to partner up. Emil on the other hand was slacking horribly on his own, so we kept trying to pair him up with someone."

"However, Alios was over protective of his younger brother, not letting anyone get too close to him. He was all ways hanging around Emil most of the time during their first year, so any meisters that thought to pair themselves with Emil were scared off by Alios."

"Fortunately by the second year, Alios was out on lengthy solo assignments so Emil began being more social with other students which led him to meeting your mother. When this happened though, Alios began occasionally harassing your mother and her friends as well as scolding Emil."

"The harassment intensified and eventually I had to give Alios a reaper chop! We then kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn't harass your mother or anyone else."

Audrey began thinking about Emil and Alios and where they originated from.

If no one knows how they were raised up, then maybe Alios had all the right for his hesitation to except life here at the academy. It still didn't give him the rite to indoctrinate his brother however. She kept this thought to herself however and continued listening.

"Alios became quiet as a result of our scolding and began keeping to himself but continued his solo missions. By his third year, Alios surprised us all when he was able to turn himself into a death weapon without the help of a meister."

Audrey nodded. She had only heard of a few cases where weapons were able to solo themselves into death weapons.

She listened on as Death continued.

"From that time till his fourth year I did not really pay too close attention to him outside of his student relations."

"As for Emil and Candice, they were a very successful pair here at the academy. They completed many missions and resonated very well together."

"However, during their fourth year a fight occurred between Emil and Craig Summers, your father. Apparently Craig and your mother were becoming close friends and Emil had conflicts with it."

"When I had a teacher confront Candice about the fight, she said it was just a dispute and nothing more. She said that she and Emil were still partners but they were just having an argument."

"The teachers noticed however that Emil and Candice stopped sitting together in class and eventually Emil stopped attending altogether."

"Alios stopped attending class also, so after a few days I finally had my staff check on their room but they were gone. I then issued a whole search of Death City but not even their souls could be detected."

Audrey thought for a moment. _So my mom cheated on Emil with my dad while they were still partners?_

She knew that the relationship between a meister and weapon was never intended to be a romantic one. Otherwise it would be like having to choose a husband or wife at too young an age.

On the other hand, she also understood that many partners who spend enough time together could eventually become intimate. After all, it was required for a meister and weapon to really know each other inside and out to achieve a good resonance.

She could be just jumping to conclusions, but she just wondered how long her mother and Craig were seeing each other before Emil found out.

Emil could have possibly had feelings for her also. They had been partners for a few years and death did say that they resonated well together.

Audrey then decided she would have to give her mother a good interrogation next time they met before she could make a fair judgment.

"What happened next Lord Death?" She asked.

"Later on is when they were found as dark weapons so I sent out the five meister teams to eliminate them." Death continued.

Audrey sighed. "So Emil is dead with Alios?" It was all so tragic.

It sounded as if Emil could have been such a promising weapon for her mother, it was shame she would never get to meet him.

"Yes" Death responded.

"Both of the brother's souls were collected by your parents and the case was closed."

"After the overall casualties report came in and all the victims of Emil and Alios's rampage were listed, your mother stopped showing up to class and withdrew when your father recovered."

"Since then I had not seen them until six years back when they came to enroll you here."

Audrey remembered the day her parents enrolled her here at the age of eight.

It was after she began using her soul perception to see people through walls and her parent's soul wavelengths.

She was scared and thought she was some kind of monster but her mom comforted her and explained what she was.

She had inherited her mother's powers as a meister.

Her mother knew that Audrey would become aware of her powers and would need to know how to control it so she and her father decided to enroll Audrey at the DWMA to educate her in the purpose of her abilities.

Prior to this, she had never known of this world of magic, meisters and weapons.

After a while at the academy, she liked the atmosphere and the people, so she decided to stay so she could become a full-fledged meister.

Audrey took what Lord Death said about the Eisenbergs into her thoughts for a moment as she tried to think more of what else she needed to know.

Death gave her a moment then spoke again.

"The main reason for bringing them us was that despite your mother's loss, she found new light."

"I understand that your previous partner meant a great deal to you, but you have to accept that things are at their max at what we can do and that you must move on and continue on with a new weapon, it is for the best for now."

Your mother moved on after Emil, and look at the beautiful result"

Death reached both arms out and pointed his index figure from both hands at her. Audrey blushed, slightly embarrassed as Death continued.

"I'll even tell you that some of the greatest meisters I've seen walking out of this academy had to change weapon partners once or twice before getting as good as they are. You could just look upon this as a new challenge to overcome in order to achieve the power of a great meister".

Audrey showed hesitation before responding.

"But I don't care about power. Not if it means abandoning Ritt. It's not fair for him to be bullied out of the academy and for me to move forward while he is left behind. I just can't do that to him!"

A tear line fell down her face as she continued.

"I don't know how my mom felt about Emil while they were partners, but me and RItt are very close friends. I would never push him aside no matter what tempts me."

"I know he would do the same for me because he has. His loyalty to me was challenged time and time again, but each time he would always be at my side encouraging me."

"The bond we built up over these past few years cannot be replaced, not by anyone. Not after the way the other students treated him."

"The way they left him to rot with others like him, even the people who chose to stay neutral on the sidelines while Ritt suffered. I just couldn't bring myself to pair with any of them."

"To be fully aware of their direct or indirect involvement with the academy's discrimination has only caused me to hate them." Audrey tried to bury her face to hide her tears.

Death nodded then stood up again from his seat. He then looked down to the ground and as he spoke.

"I'm very sorry Ms. Summers. I do understand your feelings. Till this day I am still finding so many flaws with this academy as well as its students."

"It's so hard to crop out the bad from the good, especially when people change so rapidly. Although I am the grim reaper, I am not a controller of minds. If I could, I would make everyone get along better."

Unfortunately I have to put a lump of that trust to the staff of this school which proved to be less than affective. It's a shame that the whole world is like this rite now."

He paused again, this time looking up to the ceiling which was swarmed with grey overcast clouds.

"You see, the state of the world is represented in this room. It has been several years since I have seen that blue sky." Death said as he walked out a few feet from the table as he continued to observe the clouds.

"I know you deeply care about Ritt, so do I, but out of my care for you as well as out of the respect of your mother, I cannot allow you to recklessly endanger yourself."

"That is why if you wish to find Ritt someday, you must become stronger first."

"To do that, you will need to find a new partner to assist you through your missions to achieve that goal."

Audrey stood up from the table and wiped her tears into her sleeve. She then left the table to join Lord Death a few feet away.

"Sir, what would happen if Ritt became a dark weapon?" She asked in a low tone as she lowered her head to hide her eyes.

"If Ritt were to fall into madness and begin hunting human souls, would you expose of him like Emil and Alios?" she asked.

 _If Ritt were to go off and begin murdering people, would it be because of me?_

She knew the bullies were the main cause of his pain, but as her closest friend she felt like she could have done more.

She knew Ritt well, or she thought she had up till he left.

He was a very gentle person, but the state of the world's madness knows no bounds.

If he would to end up becoming a kishin egg, she would have no choice but to blame herself. She had not tried hard enough to keep him here and safe.

Death looked down from the sky to see her, and then spoke.

"Just because I'm the deliverer death does not mean that I take pride or joy in seeing a single soul perish in this world. As the hours loomed closer to the moment when your mother and the others meisters set out to find the Eisenbergs, I was in pieces."

"I had failed these two boys and now they were monsters because of my negligence."

"They had become dark weapons and were showing no sign of alternating their path. They were becoming so powerful that they were going from city to city demolishing several square blocks of property and taking countless innocent souls.

"It was to the point that they were too dangerous and far gone to be kept functioning, So the most I could do was at least give Candice her final moments with Emil before the end."

However, I did not realize that she would be the only remaining meister of that five meister team. That led to another regret of underestimating those two brothers."

"I have held those regrets with me, even to this day. I have even gone slightly crazy on a few occasions trying to imagine how else I could of handled that situation. It certainly haunts me, just about as much as…"

Death suddenly stopped as he continued to stare at her for a moment, showing a hint of hesitation.

"Nevermind" He finally let out.

He then walked up to Audrey till they were a foot apart and then he placed his hand on her shoulder as he resumed speaking.

"So know that if I hear anything of Ritt I will contact you immediately. If he does stray from the sane path, I will make sure it is you who sees him before any of my soldiers or other meister teams."

Audrey couldn't help but start sobbing. She couldn't believe how helpless she was.

After all her hard work over the months, all the sweat and tears she spilt, all the nights she spent worn out and in emotional pain, was it really all for nothing?

Audrey continued to remain silent then finally released a sigh of defeat. "Ok Lord Death, I understand. I just need some extra time is all." She submitted.

After a short while she raised her sleeve again to wipe away her tears. She straightened herself up and stood firm in front of the grim reaper.

"Another reason that I have been hesitant in picking a new partner is because I have lost a lot of faith in my fellow classmates since Ritt left the academy. I would need to study some of the new rookies coming in to see if one of them is worth taking under my wing." She said.

"I'm so glad to hear this Miss Summers, so you're going to try training an underdog eh? They will certainly be a lucky weapon to be apprenticed under a two star meister, especially one as cute as yourself." Death said with a hint of amusement.

Audrey blushed at the comment. She really did not think she was that beautiful, she refused to wear makeup and often failed to comb her hair resulting in it being slightly messy, but she did not care.

All she cared about was how she affected other people's lives through her outward actions.

Audrey suddenly had another question beginning to form up in her thoughts. "Lord Death, who was the other weapon who survived alongside my mom and dad during the fight with the Eisenbergs?"

Death suddenly shifted uncomfortably. Audrey raised an eyebrow at him but then heard a voice from over her shoulder.

"That was me" said a crispy voice from just inches behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Death City

She turned to confront whoever just spoke but realized she was actually now off the ground and into Lord Death's arms in a cradle formation.

She was very confused, but then she heard the echoes of her own screaming coming back from the other parts of the room.

"Oh darn" she said after realizing she had freaked out yet again.

Death then chuckled. "You did not beat the jump record as the last one but maybe after a few more startles you will be acing it".

Audrey lowered her face in embarrassment.

 _I hate being surprised!_ Audrey thought to herself as Death let her down as he moved to address the new visitor.

"Erebus! Nice to see you. How are things?" Death said to the hooded figure.

Audrey had seen that hooded man on a few occasions. He was in charge of handling all the less important tasks within the school that Death doesn't have time for.

She has never really associated with him before although she had heard him give public announcements on rare occasions. Most other times, she usually tried to stay out of his way.

She just never thought that he would be the surviving weapon who battled alongside her parents.

"Hey! Lord Death" Erebus spoke up. "I am well thank you. How are you?" He asked facing the grim reaper.

His face was completely hidden behind the hood but she could make out a glowing orange iris from each of his eyes.

"I am doing well, I was just addressing the typical rubbish from the frontlines when Audrey came in to chat." Death said with a happy gesture.

"Ah, so another deserter contacted you eh? You should just turn that thing off for a few months until this whole thing blows over." Erebus said jokingly.

"Maybe even just spend a month or two bonding with your son. He has been asking about you a lot today, even the past few days" Erebus said with a chuckle that became broken with multiple coughs which he raised his arm to cover up.

He took a moment to recover then folded both of his arms to his sides.

Audrey could tell he was not in good health. She smelled a hint of tobacco on him and noticed his voice was dried out, almost horse.

She couldn't tell of any other problems due to his entire body being hidden within the hooded cloak.

"Yeah I've been away from him often haven't I?" Death looked back up to the ceiling sky. "I spose the rest of tonight will be without further worry over this global matter then."

Death then looked down to the ground littered with books and files that were completely out of place and then laughed to himself.

"Maybe even take a few nights off from this. Boy he would be mad if he set foot in here." Death said as he flung his arms up and then let them flump down to his sides.

It was Erebus's turn to stiffen up. "Well actually." he started saying when all of a sudden a small child stepped out from behind him, apparently hiding behind Erebus the whole time.

"Kiddo?!" Death shrieked in a frozen state.

Audrey stared in amazement. She had only heard of Death's son, Kid. From what she heard, he was a never aging young child, or so it seemed.

According to her knowledge, Death himself was well over a thousand years old, perhaps even older. So his son, despite resembling a young child, could be currently as old as some of the most elderly of humans.

Kid stood there with a reddened face.

"Daddy! You said you would come get me at eight o clock tonight! Its eight thirty now, this is unacceptable!" he shouted while holding out both his arms.

Audrey noticed a watch was attached to each of his rists. His hair was dark with striped lines covering only the left half of his head hair.

His outfit was a small dark suite that was surprisingly well straightened, almost like it had been ironed multiple times. His yellow eyes were wet from what she could tell as previous crying.

"Oh darn!" Death spoke up. "I completely lost track of the time, I'm so sorry son. I-"

"You never spend time to play with me anymore" Kid continued, interrupting his father.

"Every morning you say you will be back to see me before bedtime but it's all ways unsymmetrical face here sending me to bed before I can see you." He finished as he pointed up to Erebus who stood dumb founded at his new nickname.

Death started changing his tone. "His name is Erebus! And you best start addressing him as such before proper punishment is delivered."

With that Death raised his hand in a reaper chop pose and Kid went silent.

Tear lines started trailing down Kid's face as he then turned to face away from his dad. Death lowered his hand in immediate regret.

"It's my fault" Audrey blurted out, sensing the child's sadness. She stepped in front of Kid and then knelt down to his level.

"Listen, I'm sorry I kept your dad from you this evening Kid. It was entirely my doing and I give you my sincerest apology. Please don't be angry with him because of me."

She gave him her brightest smile and all Kid could do was stare with a surprised look as his eyes still watered.

"He works extra hard every day so we can all be safe. Just the fact that the world is not overran by darkness yet is all thanks to your dad."

"He works miracles for this academy and its students and even the people beyond the city's walls. You should be proud and respectful of your dad. He loves you… more than anything."

She lowered her head for a moment trying to rewind her thoughts. Kid continued to stare at her however, noticing the traces of her previous weeping.

"Kid" Death spoke as he walked over and crept down to their level. "What do you say we spend the next few days going to our favorite places around town? I'll make everything up to you."

Kid looked up at him with a still reddened face.

"Wh-What about the people you are responsible for?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"It's all right" Erebus stated as he closed the newly formed square between the four.

"I'll be filling in the big pants for the next few days. So go paint the town." He finished with his arms now folded in front.

With that news, Kid jumped into Lord Death's arms and cried happily.

After a few moments moment, Lord Death and Kid began cleaning up the office. Putting files and books back on the shelves.

Audrey and Erebus offered to assist but Kid insisted that he wanted to do it himself with his father to ensure everything looked rite.

She did not quite understand but Lord Death reassured her that they had things handled.

Meanwhile, she and Erebus stood parallel to each other as they observed the two. Kid would bark a complaint to where things should go and would make adjustments whenever Death put something in the wrong position.

Audrey smiled at them though, glad that they were finally spending time together. She had to wonder however.

"Death has never actually used a reaper chop on him has he?" she asked Erebus.

She could not see the glow of the hooded man's eyes from the angle that she stood, but she noticed his hood shake a small bit as he chuckled.

"No, not ever. Death loves his son too much for that, and his son loves him."

"Kid has seen many people in his life come and go. People that he envied and loved were lost either from sickness, injury, or old age."

"His father is the only one who shares the near immortality that he has, so he is the only one he can really rely on for long term dependency."

"The same goes for Lord Death. Kid, his son, will be the only being that will exist with him through the following centuries."

"For that, Death loves him more than he possibly could with us." Erebus finished.

Audrey let out a silent breath of relief as she continued to observe the pair. "I'm very glad for them then."

She continued to stare forward at them when she suddenly felt Erebus orange irises on her. She looked over to him but he continued to stare, as if critiquing her.

She decided to adjust herself to seem more professional.

"Im sorry I haven't introduced myself sir. I am Audrey Summers, two star meister. I'm glad to finally meet you Mr. Erebus." she said with a professional face. "I am also sorry for keeping Lord Death from relieving you of Kid."

Her eyes met with his and there was an awkward silence before Erebus finally responded.

"Oh, it's quiet all right. Well, you didn't know, so it's fine." He said. "It was only a half hour more with Mr. Unsymmetrical. Nothing too bad" he finished with another chuckle.

Audrey gave him a pity smile, remembering back to the nickname Kid gave him.

"That was not proper of Kid. Doesn't he know better for being around for so long?" she asked.

Erebus turned his head back to face Lord Death and Kid as he responded.

"Although Kid is old by our standards, his maturity cycle takes centuries longer than that of a typical human child. Because of that, he acts just as he looks, like a small kid." Erebus stated.

She looked away from him and back to the shinigami as they were finishing up.

"Incredible" she stated.

She then looked back at Erebus with the upmost curiosity regarding his physical appearance.

 _Did the Eisenbergs do this to him?_ She wondered.

He continued staring forward with his arms crossed and began coughing again lightly. She wanted to say something. Anything to admit her sympathy to him, but she didn't know how to start.

"So tell me Audrey" He spoke suddenly, catching her by surprise. "How confident do you feel about your overall power as a meister thus far?"

She looked over to him with confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Erebus shifted his posture as he turned to face her.

"I've been keeping in touch with Miss Julie and I had heard you have been great difficulty mastering your offensive techniques."

Audrey probably should not have been surprised by him knowing of her training.

As second next to Lord Death in authority, Erebus made it his business to know every student's whereabouts here at the academy.

"Yeah, I was hoping to reach the skill level of a three star meister by now so I would not need another weapon partner" She said with a fading smile.

"Hmm, that's an interesting goal to set for yourself. A solo meister is a very rare feat." Erebus replied as he folded his arms.

He probably could see how worn out she was. Her bloodshot eyes had dark lines beneath them revealed much sleep deprivation. The slight bruises on her hands were also visible from constantly generating energy during her training.

He had probably heard of other injuries through Miss Julie about Audrey and knew that the poor girl was at her limits.

"I know, well NOW I know." She agreed.

"I thought if I had put enough effort into something I could achieve it. This was not the case however. Even if I did achieve the power to become a solo meister, Death said that he would not let me on a mission anyways."

Erebus lifted his head so his glowing eyes were visible to her again. "I see… Well what do you think?"

She made eye contact with him again, taken back that he was interested in her own opinion over Lord Death's.

"well… I think he is being very unfair. I know he means well, but I think he is underestimating my other abilities, such as my soul perception."

"He says that he has people looking into the matter regarding my partner's disappearance, but I know Ritt's soul better than anybody. I should be out there looking for him rite now instead of being held here."

"Ritt was a very good friend to me. I would never want to replace him if given a choice, which I guess there is no more choices for me now. It is either get a new partner, or be removed from the school."

Audrey looked down and notices that each of Erebus's hands was starting to tighten around his arms.

"There is all ways… a choice." Erebus said as he broke eye contact with her and turned so all she could see was the side of his hood.

Audrey became curious to where Erebus was going with this conversation when Lord Death walked up to them with Kid nudged between his right arm and torso.

"I think we are finished up here. Time to close the office" Death said with his cheery voice with Kid looked very distressed.

"No, we are not done yet! The sky isn't symmetrical!" he yelled as he tried to break free of his dad's arm.

"I already told you son. That cannot be helped. It's up to our meisters and weapons to fix that for us." Death lectured.

"Then let me go dad! I can go make it symmetrical. Ill defeat all those kishin eggs so you can finally have the perfect room to work in."

Death let out a laugh. "Not just yet kiddo, maybe another fifty years and you will be ready"

Audrey flinched. _Fifty years!?_ She would be an old lady by the time Kid finally starts doing missions.

"Aw dad, that will take forever!" Kid pouted.

Both Death and Erebus were laughing this time and Audrey decided to joined in.

Kid didn't seem to like everyone's enjoyment however. He looked over to Audrey and leaped out of his dad's grip so he could run over to her.

"You're a meister aren't you?" he asked with seriousness in his yellow eyes.

"Could you fix dad's ceiling for me? Pretty please?" Kid asked with desperation with in his eyes.

 _He is so cute!_ Audrey thought as she knelt down so her eyes were level with his.

"Of course I will." She calmly said as she placed her hand on his head. "Me and everyone here at the academy will do everything we can."

Kid waited a moment then started smiling at her. She couldn't help but smiled back. She knew he will certainly make a fine grim reaper someday.

They all made their way to the door and exited to the hallway. Erebus locked up the office as Audrey, Kid and Lord Death bid their farewells for the day.

"Well Audrey I think it was a good thing you stopped by tonight. We certainly got a lot of ground covered towards getting things going" Death said as he held Kid's hand.

"Yeah, I appreciate all that you have told me Lord Death, and I will try to get a new partner soon. I just need a few days to collect myself in preparation. I want to get back out there and start doing missions again." she said cheerfully.

Death bounced joyfully "splendid, splendid! I'm so happy for you Miss Summers. Just hang in there and everything will turn out all right."

Kid looked at her and then shifted his head away shyly as he clenched his dads arm tightly. Audrey smiled at him and gave him thumbs up.

"I'll have that ceiling fixed up no problem" she said with a smile.

She had no idea why she pretending to be a hero to the child. She knew she was now further away from being any kind of hero now that she would soon be back at square one with a new partner.

As she watched Lord Death and Kid progress down the hall her head slumped down and she let out a sigh.

Suddenly a hand settled on her shoulder, making her flinch with a gasp.

"Whoa sorry." Erebus said, realizing that he surprised her.

"Darn you are really a jumpy one, you know that?" He said laughing, but Audrey was not feeling well anymore.

"Its fine sir, I'm just going to head home. Did you need something?" she asked rather annoyed.

Erebus was about to respond but he hesitated.

"You do look really exhausted" he admitted.

"There is something I need to discuss with you, but it will need to wait till you've had a goodnight's rest. You should stop by my office as soon are you are feeling better so we can start getting the next few weeks planned out for you." He said as he stepped away.

Audrey nodded her head in agreement.

"Sure, I can make it in later this week." She said as she lifted her hand over her face to cover a yawn.

"Allrighty, I'll just see you later then. Be safe on your way home." He finished as he turned from her so he could walk after Lord Death and Kid who were now far down the hall.

"Thank you, I will. Be safe yourself." She said to his back as he proceeded away.

He chuckled and waved her off as he kept walking. She turned and ventured down the opposite direction.

As Audrey walked down the steps of the academy she looked up to see the moon floating in the cloudless sky.

Its creepy smile all ways disturbed her so she did not gaze upon it much.

The moonlight covered the rooftops and streets with calming shades and the weather was still warm.

For a moment, she felt like running away. Just charging off down the street and running and running until she found Ritt.

She knew she couldn't though. She would not last two days out on her own. She had no job, no money, and no means of travel.

All that she had was borrowed from the academy. Her parents had already thought that they had talked her out of chasing Ritt, so she couldn't turn to them again for help.

She then decided to think of something else. Her thoughts then trailed over to Erebus, the mysterious weapon.

She decided that she should just go get things over with tomorrow.

As much as she hated the idea, she had to get a new partner to start doing missions again. Otherwise she would get kicked out of the academy.

If anything, she could treat her new partner as a temporary replacement until Ritt is found.

 _But would that be fair to that new partner?_ She pondered probably not.

"Oh, dreaded days" She muttered under her breath as she walked up the stairs to her apartment.

At least she could learn more about Erebus's past battle with the Eisenbergs.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Death City

Audrey woke the next morning with her clock chiming from her bedside. She rose from her bed and began preparing her clothes for the day.

She usually kept a necklace with a good luck charm in her dresser that she wore only on exam days. With how things were looking this coming week, she figured she would keep wearing it from this day forward.

Her mother had given it to her on her first day enrolling at the academy. Ever since then, she had kept it close and believed that there was indeed something very special about it.

She fastened the neck less around her neck and got dressed, ate breakfast, and then decided to get to school early to look through the library to find information about the wars.

She also needed to find out more regarding the whereabouts of all the deserting students. If she could find out where they all went, then she could possibly find out where Ritt would be.

When she arrived at the library, she strolled down the atlas section looking through a few books seeking to learn about the conflicting countries involved in the first Great War.

She also explored different sections of the library regarding conflicts within the schools past hoping to learn more about Emil or Alios Eisenberg.

She stayed there searching till the students from the early morning classes got out and were swarming into the library. She then quickly darted out after she renting few books and found a found a good place to browse through them before class.

One of her books had a slight section about the Eisenberg twins. As she read, she noticed her mother Candice was never mentioned as Emil's partner.

The only information that was available regarding Emil and Alios was their suspected activity after leaving the academy in 1914 till their time of death in 1918.

There were several listed events involving them followed by a list of casualties from each one. One chapter was titled "Battle of Verdun" which described a brutal part of the war involving several strongholds that the Germans fought viscously to acquire from the French.

The Eisenberg brothers were mentioned as being hired by the Germans to assist in taking the forts of Harcourt and Malancourt from the French. The brothers then turn coated against the Germans and were hired by General Petain of the French forces to defend the final fort of Verdun from the Germans.

She looked into another chapter that covered another battle called "battle of Somme" where the Eisenbergs were hired to assist the British in breaking through German trench lines across the river of Somme.

There were a few other chapters that went over their involvement in several other battles of the war, but the last one, "The battle or Marne" caught her attention as she red into the chapter.

It was about the last final German offensive of the Great War that was countered by a combined effort of the French, British, and American forces. The supreme commander of the allied forces caught ear of the then famous and feared mercenaries of the warfront and hired them to help cripple the German forces.

Little did the commander suspect that the mercenaries that he hired had helped the Germans in the early stages of the offensive before turn coating yet again to the allies.

 _So they were not even on a particular side?_ Audrey thought to herself as she red on.

Due to overwhelming evidence from firsthand meister teams that had witnessed and battled the brothers during several parts of the war, it was concluded that they had been harvesting innocent and evil souls alike.

At least seven meisters and their weapons had been killed by the brothers by the battle of Marne with twelve other teams severely wounded. Grim Reaper concluded that they were to be found at once and delt with using a special hand picked team.

Below that sentence was a list of names. She immediately recognized the first pair of names. Candice Summers and Craig Hurnum.

Her father had changed his last name after marriage so she was all ways had to think for a moment each time she heard his old one.

The list continued with four more pairs of names: Judy Clein and Norman Ferris, Adela Clifton and Andrew Clemens, George Darrel and David Fear, Bailey Foss and Blythe Fairchild.

According to the list, every meister was at least a three star except for Candice which made Audrey frown. It was hard to bear that her mother never finished school, let alone never became a three star meister like she had always thought.

At the closing day of the battle of Marne, the Eisenbergs were finally tracked down and eliminated by the grim reapers selected team.

That was the last sentence of the chapter which left Audrey puzzled, but what was on the following page took her by surprise.

She found a sketch of Alios and Emil as students in the academy. Emil looked quiet young, with brown hair and in his school uniform. Alios was taller and had blonde hair but with the same uniform.

She then turned another page and saw a sketch of two tanks. The tank on the left of the page had a note written beneath it. The note read "Mark IV-Emil". It was labeled as a British tank. _This must be Emil's weapon form_ she realized in amazement.

She then looked to the other tank on the right and read the description below that. It read "A7V-Alios". _And this is Alios_ she confirmed. Alios's tank form was labeled as the German tank during the first Great War.

Alios's weapon form was more bulky and intimidating than Emil's, but Emil's form looked more maneuverable and actually kind of cute to her after looking at it awhile.

She just wondered how her mother was able to use him as a weapon. She assumed from the inside and at the controls if there were any.

She noticed she had at least a half hour left till her class started so she decided to move on to another book she rented.

The next book was about the overall history of Europe of before and after the first Great War. She thought it would be a good start educating herself further regarding the origins and conclusions of the first Great War.

After a while of research, the bell rang so she went to her first class. She couldn't pry herself away from the book however, and ended up ignoring the whole class lecture.

She had friends in the class but they never socialized during lecture because they would get whack with a book or a ruler, or they would get sent to the corner for disrupting class.

The classes were segregated by gender. All the girls had their classes together while the boys had the same classes but in a different room.

When class ended she had already skimmed through a bit of the book and decided to take a break. She was getting hungry and thought a visit to the school cafeteria would be for the best.

As she ate she, studied the people around her. The cafeteria was crowded at this time so almost all the other tables were filled except for hers.

She used to sit with two of her friends, Lily and Veronica, but that friendship came to an end around the time Ritt was being bullied.

Lily's weapon partner was one of the bullies responsible for hurting Ritt but Lily did not want to deal with the situation so Audrey dissociated with her.

Veronica was of Jewish heritage and because of the mass killing of those with Jewish decent by the Germans, She became extra frightful of Ritt and had once even accused him of attacking her when Audrey knew he could never.

So she sat alone since. She actually did not mind it as much as she thought she would. It was not like there was anything else at this academy for her. She figured she might end up running away after all.

Another book she had picked out was an almanac of Nevada as well as a map of the state. She figured she could get to know the area's terrain and sources of travel if she was to begin her own investigation to Ritt's whereabouts.

As the day progressed she jolted from class to class impatiently till it was finally the last fifteen minutes of the school day.

She realized by that time that she still had to meet with Erebus regarding a new thought made her stomach turn. She really did not want to have to drag a rookie around with her.

She knew a newbie student would have to be a best choice since they would not of been corrupted yet by school gossip and stereotyping. The same stereotyping that got Ritt beat up.

So she decided that she would go to Erebus to hear him out anyways. If she did not like what she heard then she would have to strategies about it later. It's not like she could put him off forever anyways.

Audrey then stumbled her way over by Death's office again. She figured out that Erebus has a smaller office next door to Death's office so it was easy to find.

She approached the smaller door that was Erebus's office and took a deep breath as she knocked.

For a moment, she waited. When no one answered, she sat down beside the door. She figured that the sooner she confronted him and got this out of the way, the better. So she would wait and wait until he showed up.

A few minutes past and she began thinking again about the Eisenbergs and their weapon forms. She could only imagine the amount of magical energy required to achieve the binding of a human soul into a tank.

Her thoughts them trialed over to Emil, the more innocent of the two brothers, or so she thought. She figured they were both pretty evil by the end of Great War when they died, but she could only wonder the true motivation for them to go about causing the destruction that they did.

The image of the young boy from the picture lingered in her mind though. The innocent stare Emil emitted at the direction of the viewer told of such an innocence, one that couldn't help but bring a sense of sadness upon her.

As she continued to think, the door down the hall opened and Erebus appeared with Kid beside him. They seemed to be having a disagreement because Erebus had his gloved hand gripped around Kid's rist as he pulled the pouting child down the hallway.

"Let me wait for my dad in the hallway and I'll come easily!" Kid yelled.

"I told you that you can't wait out here because I can't see you from out there!" Erebus scolded back.

"But then I have to look at your butt ugly face! It's not symmetrical!" Kid replied.

Audrey sat in shock at Kid's Rudeness and was suddenly glad she was the only student in the hallway at that time.

"You don't ever say that to someone, never!" Erebus shot back with growing irritation in his voice. "Unless you want to be placed in the office corner facing it till your father arrives." He threatened.

"At least I won't have to be facing you" Kid shot out.

Erebus seemed on the verge of exploding on Kid when Audrey came into his view.

"Oh, Audrey" Erebus said in surprise. Kid spotted her also and immediately broke away from Erebus's grip to dive at her.

"Audrey, thank God! Save me from this man!" Kid shouted as he hugged her waist.

Audrey looked down and gave Kid a face of disappointment.

"Kid, you can't treat him like that, he is your guardian, your caretaker. You should treat him how you would like to be treated. It would not be nice if someone called you ugly or unsymmetrical. Actually, in fact…" Audrey paused.

She observed how the white stripes in his hair only covered half of the diameter. "Your hair is unsy-"

Before she could finish the last word, Erebus shot over to her and placed his index finger over her lips in a soosh gesture.

"Your hair… is beautiful!" Erebus blurted out to Kid, followed by nervous laughter as Audrey remained silent and confused.

Kid looked at Erebus with an eyebrow raised. "Your weird" Said the child.

There was a short awkward silence when Erebus finally broke it.

"Why don't we proceed into my office then?" Erebus continued, gesturing to the office door.

"I'll go in if Audrey will" Kid said in a plain tone.

"All right" Audrey replied with a smile.

As they entered his office, a sweet scent of vanilla ventured into Audrey's nostrils. She had never thought an office could smell so nice, vanilla was her favorite scent.

Erebus ventured over to his desk at the back of the room while Kid ran across to a glassed container. Inside the container was a snake. Kid pulled the snake out and began playing with it, while Erebus pulled some papers out from his desk and flipped down his hood.

"Come, have a seat Audrey." He said with a smile.


End file.
